Crave Online: Do you feel like a celebrity now, being revealed as Jason?
Derek Mears: First of all no eye contact. I am huge now and I don’t need any friends. Are you kidding me, dude? I think this is the closest thing to becoming a rock star or feeling like a rock star. It’s absolutely amazing. It’s so surreal being a fan growing up and running around with a hockey mask for Halloween and then having the industry come in and going, “Hey man, why don’t you represent and come play him for real?" “Huh, what? Are you serious?” So it’s really a great, great honor.
Crave Online: But this is a different Jason than you grew up with, right?
Derek Mears: Yeah. There’s a lot there. The way that Mark and Damien have written the script, there are a lot more levels to him where he’s more of a full-fleshed character and not just a guy in a mask running around killing people. I always explain it as like a key to a piano. There’s one side where the child that’s hurt and tormented and you can empathize with what he’s going through but then to switch that and put that on a negative light, you go all the way to the other end where it becomes progressively intense and angry and he takes that torment out so you see, it’s almost like, where it’s coming from. You have that energy that’s built up and you see it released. I am really excited about it. I was really happy when I first read the script. In general, I was a fan of Friday the 13th. This is actually a really intelligent script and it also doesn’t downplay to the fans where it’s like “I’m that guy and I’ve killed this person. Oh I’m so mad at this person.” It’s actually intelligent and there are parts where you go “Oh, he’s setting somebody up, and that makes sense.” There is a lot more depth to him than just your regular stereotypical slasher.
Crave Online: I really liked the move in the teaser, it kind of had some martial arts finesses to it. How limber is this new Jason?
Derek Mears: That was really funny. They wanted this Jason to be more functional. They weren’t worried about him being big and bulky. When I checked, should I put size on? Because for a different role, I’ll gain or lose weight. They told me they wanted him to be functional. So I did a lot of functional training. My actual background is martial arts which is hilarious.
Crave Online: So it’s like machete fu?
Derek Mears: That’s so funny because actually for that shot that you saw at the end coming forward, I came forward and Marc[us Nispell] was like, “Derek, what are you doing? You’re coming forward. You’re not just doing this [stiff walk], you’re doing something with your wrist.” It actually helped the camera to add the energy because you see the whole body coming through and it sells the force of what’s going on. It could just be that I’ve bounced between acting and stunts and creature work. People seem to dig it so much. Thanks.
Crave Online: How do you honor the legacy but bring something new to it and make it exciting for the fans?
Derek Mears: The script itself is really the blueprint. I can go as an actor and approach it. I have known the character before, like I said, as a fan but you kind of have to put that to the side and approach the script from just what they have and I pretend like I’ve never heard of who Jason is and what he is all about and you build your foundation of your character from that: what’s his motivation, where he comes from, why does he do what he does. Then, at the end, it’s like baking a cake. That’s the base of your cake and then the frosting on top. I have actually in different takes added little homages to some of the other actors, like the slow head tilt from Ted White in Part 4, or in Part 2 where he comes through the window, so there is great respect for the guys who played the character before me because I am a fan. It’s still weird because I’m still kind of detached from this new Jason because you’ll talk about Jason and I’m like, “Oh, that’s me.” I keep thinking of the guys that I’ve seen before. “That’s Jason, man.” “Oh yeah, I guess so.”
Crave Online: So have you spoken to Kane Hodder?
Derek Mears: No, I haven’t at all. I think there’s a convention coming up that we’re both going to be at and doing a signing at. It will be really awesome to meet him. That’d be cool.
Crave Online: How awesome did it feel to put the mask on? What did you think when you saw yourself for the first time?
Derek Mears: Ah, it was so crazy. By the way I’m a firm believer with this character, it’s a fifty-fifty relationship. Scott Stoddard designed the character, made the effects, and he’s really passionate about the series. He put a lot of heart and a fan’s perspective into the design of the character. He’s the one who makes the jet fighter. Like I have no idea how to make a jet fighter, how it works, but I get to be the pilot so it’s really both of us together making the character. So I went in trying the mask on for the first time, actually it was in Scott’s shop, and he’s like “Well hey man, you’re in already. We haven’t built anything yet, but we’ve got the mask here. Why don’t we try him on?” I’m like, “Okay.” And he brings out this big case and unbuckles it and it’s got six of the masks in the polyfoam inside and really super protected. Everyone in the shop, it was like people working on broken legs and I was sitting next to them and everyone is doing their own thing and they kind of stop, put all their work down, and I feel everyone watching me. And I walk over and I held the mask and he says, “Go for it.” It was kind of an Excalibur moment, like putting the crown on. The feeling that I can describe it as is that feeling when you watch Star Wars and, for me, when after the 20th Century Fox logo leaves and the instrumental comes in and you start to see the words scrolling down and you get that chill and you go “Ahhhh!” That’s what it felt like. How did I get here? This is amazing. I actually turned and looked at everybody and everyone stood up and started applauding and I’m like “This is weird.”
Crave Online: Hockey masks have changed a little bit through the years but you're still wearing an old one?
Derek Mears: Yeah. This is set in modern day. “Why is the hockey mask so yellow? It looks very Freddy vs. Jason.” The fans were like, “If it sits around for that many years, that’s what’s going to happen.” Also, the filters they’re using for the cameras, we had all different colors or different tints of it for the mask. Once you see it in the camera, what the camera sees and how it’s shot, you’re like, “Oh, it has to be that color.” It was whiter before. It really just blew out. It was like a giant flashlight running around.
Crave Online: Did you work with Nana Visitor, who's playing Mrs. Vorhees?
Derek Mears: I met her. We passed and said hello, but we really didn’t talk that much at all.
